Creating a bedtime routine is crucial to ensure you get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep. As a result, you will have good sleep quality, which contributes to optimal health, makes you less irritable, and improves your concentration and performance.
However, you must adopt a good bedtime routine to enhance sleep quality. Below are ideas that can help to create a good bedtime routine.
Use Stress Relief Techniques
Several factors are associated with sleeping troubles, such as work stress and family life. You can enjoy some stress-alleviating activities, like meditation, stretching, or a warm, soothing bath to help you fall asleep quickly.
If you have anxious thoughts that keep you up at night, journaling before bedtime may help you improve your mental and emotional health and overall sleep quality. Meditation is another practice that can help quiet your mind before taking your nighttime rest. It helps to still the mind, minimize worrying and thoughts, and eliminate tension in your body that could affect your ability to fall asleep.
Besides these stress relief practices, people who experience primary sleep disorders, like mild insomnia, can rely on treatments like melatonin supplementation to get better sleep outcomes. However, ensure you have the proper guidelines on how to take the supplement and speak to your physician before taking it.
Avoid Consuming Alcohol and Nicotine at Night
Alcohol intake and smoking have different ways of altering your sleeping cycle. Nicotine stimulates and enhances feelings of excitement and alertness. People who quit smoking experience sleep problems but these issues typically go away a few weeks later.
On the other hand, alcohol makes most people fall asleep faster after consuming it, but difficulties in sleeping may arise during the night when the alcohol is completely metabolized. Therefore, avoiding these substances at night will help you sleep better.
Do Away with Caffeine at Night
Caffeine, like nicotine, is a stimulant that gives a temporary feeling of alertness. The wakefulness peaks about 30 minutes after intake of caffeine.
Many people who consume caffeinated drinks in the morning or early afternoon experience insignificant effects on their nighttime sleep. However, caffeine can significantly disrupt your sleep cycle if you take it about seven hours before bedtime. So a good bedtime routine eliminates caffeine intake in the afternoon and evening.
Plan Next-Day Activities
Making your to-do list for the following day is an activity you can include in your bedtime routine to clear your mind. Your mind may be unsettled if you’re thinking of everything you need to work on the next day, which might be too overwhelming. Essentially, you might be thinking about things you can do nothing about at that time of night, leading to difficulties falling asleep.
Creating your to-do list at night helps you to avoid getting lost in your thoughts and eases your mind, knowing that your workload is captured and manageable.
Reduce Your Screen Time
The blue light emissions from electronic devices like laptops, tablets, smartphones, and television affect your ability to fall asleep. The light suppresses the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. This makes you take longer to fall asleep and affects sleep quality.
You should avoid using screen devices for at least two hours before bedtime. You can break the habit of screen scrolling by setting a reminder on your phone one hour before bedtime to avoid your blue light-emitting devices.
Create a Relaxing Environment in Your Bedroom
You can take several measures in your bedtime routine to optimize your bedroom for quality sleep. For instance, maintain a comfortable room temperature that will promote better sleep. Dimming the lights and minimizing artificial lighting in the bedroom hours before going to bed will also help you prepare for a good night’s rest.
Aromatherapy, which involves experimenting with soothing scents, is another activity you can include in your routine. If you have difficulties relaxing before bedtime, essential oils like lavender oil have calming qualities that enhance relaxation and eliminate tiredness.
Conclusion
When you create and follow a particular set of healthy activities before bedtime, it primes your body to know when it is time to go to bed and when to wake up. This means you will have a revitalizing night’s sleep.
Consider applying the ideas above in your bedtime routine to improve your well-being.
